Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1887-1890, 1887-05-28
EXCITING INTEREST.
Secretary Nichols Rece e Many In
aur es About Great Falls.

our es About Great Falls.
Secretary Nichols and his staff are now
busily engaged in answering inquiries from
all parts of the country relative to Great
Falls. Some strong capitalists in Mime
sofa informed Mr.. Nichols that if he con-
frmed from personal observation the
good reports they had heard OF Great
Falls, they would invest money here right
away. These men are ~enterprising as
well as wealthy. They are such as have
made large investments in Duluth, West
Superior, Ashland and other places with
the view of dividing up their interests
In this way when the growth OF n town
is retarded, the progress elsewhere makes
up for any temporary loss. Not to put all
the eggs in one basket is now the practice
of both large and small capitalists in Min
nesota and Wisconsin. Such persons
make good investors. They are not scared
by false rumor, and can measure the
growth of of a town as readily as a farmer
can tell the prospects of his crops. In re
ply to inquiries regarding the location and
general plan of Great Falls, persons are
informed that the city is beautifully stu
ated at the famous series of cataracts of
the Missouri, at the junction of the latter
river-one hundred miles north Of
Helena and forty miles south Of Fort
Benton, the head of navigation. 1t is sixty
miles from the main range of the Rockies,
forty miles from the Big Belt mountains,
all of which are rich in mineral resources.
1t is surrounded with picturesque scenery,
and occupies a natural townsite upon
broad, gently-sloping bench lands. 1t Is
laid out with wide streets, and lots 90 by
$50 feet. A system of parks and drives
has already been ~inaugurated by planting
and maintaining trees along the entire line
of the townsite. Over 100000 will be
expended here in Improvements during
the present year. No town in the west
has started with such varied resources,
backed by unlimited capital.
RAILROAD FACILITIES.
Railroad communication is of course of
primary importance in estimating the
prospects of cities. 1t has determined the
fate for good or evil of many town projects.
Sister cities on the Missouri, such as Kan
sas City, Omaha and Council Bluffs, owe all
their importance to the railroad facilities
which they enjoy. As regards Great
Falls, Secretary Nichols points out that by
the 1st of October next, this city will be
the western terminus of the st. Paul,
Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, and
the eastern terminus of the Montana Cen
trail; the former connecting it with Lake
Superior and Saint Paul and Minneapolis,
the latter with Helena, Butte and other
important mining districts of the Rocky
mountains. Another road will also be
built Immediately from here. southwest
into the coal and iron-fields of Sa d Cou
lee, which branch will be extended into
the silver mining section of the Belt
mountains, thus making Great Falls, at
once one of the most important railroad
centres in Montana. Here at Great Falls
will be erected the western machine shops
of the main line of the Manitoba railroad.
IMMENSE wATER-PoWER.
Persons who intend to engage in manu-
features make inquiry regarding the wa
t~er-power. On this point they are in
formed with scientific certainty that the
falls of the Missouri furnish the largest
available water-power On the continent,
estimated to be at least one million horse
powers. The bed of the river is such as to
guarantee absolute permanancy of the wa
and the sources of the Missouri
are such that the volume of water varies
slightly throughout the year. Improve
ments upon the falls are to be commenced
Immediately by the construction of dams
and canals, preparatory to the erection OF
works for reducing and refining the ores
of this country. The engineering work
has already been commenced under the
supervision of one of the most eminent by
draulic engineers of the day.
AS regards coal and iron, Mr.. Nichols
answers inquiries BY pointing out, that ia
close proximity to Great Falls lie the vast
coal and iron deposits of Sand Coulee, cev-
ering, so far as known, an area of about
three hundred square miles. This coal
makes an excellent quality of locke and the
iron, being almost entirely free from phos-
phorous, is especially adapted to the man
ufacture of bessemer steel.
EXTENSIVE REDUCTION R
AS TO reduction works and industrial
matters generally, it is observed that at this
immense water-power, surrounded, as it
is, with an i~nexhaustible quantity of coal,
iron and limestone, the ores of the prec-
ious metals can be treated at less cost per
ton than at any other point on this contin-
emf. 1t is the intention of the Great Falls
Water-Power 81 Townsite Company to
commence at.once the erection Of works
for reducing and refining gold, silver and
copper ores, and for the. manufacture of
iron and steel. This work will be pushed
to completion as rapidly as possible in
conjunction with the development Of the
water-power. General industries = may
also he expected to spring up speedily.
Not only will the wheat grown in north
ern Montana be tributary to Great Falls,
but the connection of this point with the
wheat fields of the Saskatchewan and the
Pacific coast will make it the largest and
most promising Touring town west OF
Minneapolis.
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